Spartans win battle between league undefeateds

AUBURN HILLS — A battle between the leaders of the North East Michigan Conference and North Star League turned out to be not much of a battle at all on Sunday at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Pinconning and Hale are both unbeaten at the midpoint of their league seasons -- and Hale came into the game at 11-0 overall -- but Pinny dominated the contest from the second quarter on in taking a 51-27 victory on the Detroit Pistons' home floor and ending the Eagles' 11-game win streak.

"It is a great opportunity for the boys to play at the Palace," said Hale coach Ryan Parkinson. "I certainly wouldn't want to take that away, but it seems as though we never play very well when we travel there to play."

A lot of that, of course, had to do with Pinny, which had size and athleticism that Hale couldn't match. The Eagles managed just 16 rebounds for the game against the bigger Spartans. But they also shot just 22 percent for the game, well off their usual of near 50 percent.

Pinny led 9-8 after the first quarter, but opened up a 24-10 halftime lead. The Spartans' "big three" of Andrew Holbrook, Casey Pashak and Lucas Foco scored all of Pinny's points in the first half.

"Holbrook is a tough guard and Foco is tough inside," Parkinson said. "I really thought Pashak played a nice floor game for them. They have a nice team. I appreciate Pinny being willing to go down and play for the experience of it."

Every player on both rosters got into the game on the Palace court. Holbrook led the Spartans (8-3) with 17 points, with Foco adding 14 and Pashak 12.

Drew Compau led Hale (11-1) with seven points. Parkinson added that Christian Moody's defensive effort was a highlight for his squad.

The Eagles host Mio AuSable on Tuesday, while Pinny next plays on Friday at Ogemaw Heights.

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